Sinner
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The following article is typical of Political Correctness and the anti-God mentality of many people.
‘The launch of Explorer 1, America’s first satellite, was a pivotal event in American history. After the Russian scare with Sputnik 1 and 2, and the fiery loss of the US Navy’s attempt to launch their Vanguard satellite, the Army succeeded with a JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) satellite blasted into orbit atop Wernher von Braun’s Jupiter-C rocket. Most of the space pioneers from that day, January 31, 1958, have passed on, but one important player remains: Dr Henry Richter. At age 91, he is still sharp and a NASA V.I.P. Earlier this year he spoke at JPL on the 60th anniversary of Explorer 1.
I am honored to consider Dr Richter a very special friend. I took this picture of him on
January 30, 2008, the eve of JPL’s 50th Anniversary celebration for Explorer 1. He was speaking in the JPL Library for its ‘JPL Stories’ series, giving his eyewitness account of that fateful month that had catapulted JPL into national fame and led to the birth of NASA. Back in 2003, I had heard Dr William Pickering speak here. Pickering was JPL Director in those days. He died the following year.
Behind him, Dr Richter had supplied numerous photos, documents and charts from his collection. His memory and his research gives his published memoir an exceptional look into the space race. Titled America’s Leap Into Space: My Time at JPL and the First Explorer Satellites,2 Dr Richter’s book is a valuable resource for space historians. And now, on January 31, 2018, he was guest of honor at JPL once again, to speak and sign copies of his book.
How did a man of his eminence get to know little old me? I got a surprise phone call one day about 2006 or 2007. He said he had read some of my articles from the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) about astronomy, and wanted to meet me. We set up a time to chat during the lunch hour. When I found out who he was, I nearly fell off my chair! About 78 at the time, Dr Henry Richter was humble and gracious, and told me how he had come to know the Lord after he left the lab, and was now a firm believer in creation. By that 50th Anniversary celebration day in January 2008, we were good friends, and I was glad to see him honored by the lab for his achievements. A few months later, he would be in Washington DC to be honored with all the surviving JPL Directors.
History of a recent kind
Now that you know a little about Dr Henry Richter, let me tell how he came into my story. I used to be Team Leader working on computer systems for NASA’s Cassini project to Saturn. He learned about the trouble I had gotten into in March 2009 for sharing intelligent design DVDs with co-workers. I had told him how my boss yelled at me that I was “pushing religion” and had shouted, “Intelligent design is religion!” He learned how my boss immediately called Human Resources (HR), who began an investigation of me, based on one complaint by a co-worker who had told my boss—but not me—that she “felt harassed” by the DVD. Richter learned that I had been disciplined and demoted a month later, and was given a Written Warning declaring that I had violated JPL’s policies on Unlawful Harassment and its Ethics policy by sharing my “personal views” expressed in the DVDs. He also knew I was pursuing internal remedies but was getting nowhere. On his own initiative, he decided to intervene.
You may have heard how this matter escalated into a court trial in 2012 against JPL, supported by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). Unfortunately, I lost the case when the sitting judge ruled against me with no explanation. The details are explained in Dr Jerry Bergman’s new book, Censoring the Darwin Skeptics (Leafcutter Press, 2018).3
In my court documents (Exhibit 125), there is a private letter Dr Henry Richter had written to the Deputy Director at the time, Gen. Eugene Tattini. Richter was obviously well known by the JPL administrators, and had an especially good relationship with Tattini. Here is what he wrote on June 9:
General T:
The David Coppedge matter
Maybe five months ago Mr Coppedge was informed of a complaint against him accusing him of pushing religion at people. David is one of us that believes the Universe is no accident, call it Intelligent Design or Creation.
It has been my experience that David does not push ideas or dogma. What he does is to have a supply of DVDs such as The Privileged Planet, Ben Stein’s Expelled, No Intelligence Allowed, and others when asked for them. His offer of materials is done off line, not during business activities. Someone was evidently offended by his practice and a complaint was filed. David has tried to go through the JPL HR policies as to what is acceptable, and to find his recourse at this point. Listening to him, the HR people do not seem to understand even their own policies. For example, there is an appeal process, but no one in HR knows how to file it.
He has essentially been demoted. He says there are no complaints about his technical work on the Cassini Mission. The accusation is one of violating political correctness. His Section Chief has had a couple meetings with him, but it seems like the meeting was “because he was supposed to,” not anything with substance. I feel a real injustice is going on. An incident such as this would not have happened when I was employed at the Lab, but this is a new political scene. It seems freedom of speech and action do not apply universally.
[signed] Henry
A plea for a fair hearing
“Well,” you may be thinking. “This had to make an impression on JPL’s top brass! HR investigator Huntley and her bosses probably stood up and took notice of this!” It would be like receiving a statement from John Glenn or Wernher von Braun. To think so, however, would be to underestimate the intolerance of JPL for political incorrectness. Notice that Dr Richter was not asking for favors for a friend, but for justice. So what notice did this hot letter receive?
Undoubtedly Tattini was alarmed when he read it. Richter told me he knew about the documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed which documents persecution of Darwin doubters and ID supporters, and liked its narrator, Ben Stein. But he did what administrators typically do: keep out of departmental business and let them do their jobs. At document discovery over a year later, we found out what happened to the letter. The HR manager scribbled on it, saying, simply, “Tattini received this letter. No action necessary. Just add it to Coppedge file.” On they went, continuing to violate my rights and their own policies. The outcome—the investigation, lawsuit, firing, trial and loss—I have documented in previous posts on my blog.4 Not even a NASA V.I.P could help me.’ https://creation.com/nasa-vip?utm_campaign=infobytes_au&utm_content=Fired+for+discussing+Intelligent+Design+at+work%21&utm_medium=email&utm_source=mailing.creation.com&utm_term=AU+Fortnightly+Digest+-+2018.07.06
MORNING & EVENING:
DAILY READINGS
by C. H. SPURGEON
JANUARY 23 — AM
“I have exalted one chosen out of the people.” — Psalm 89:19
Why was Christ chosen out of the people? Speak, my heart, for heart-thoughts are best. Was it not that He might be able to be our brother, in the blest tie of kindred blood? Oh, what relationship there is between Christ and the believer! The believer can say, “I have a Brother in heaven; I may be poor, but I have a Brother who is rich, and is a King, and will He suffer me to want while He is on His throne? Oh, no! He loves me; He is my Brother.” Believer, wear this blessed thought, like a necklace of diamonds, around the neck of thy memory; put it, as a golden ring, on the finger of recollection, and use it as the King’s own seal, stamping the petitions of thy faith with confidence of success. He is a brother born for adversity, treat Him as such.
Christ was also chosen out of the people that He might know our wants and sympathize with us. “He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.” In all our sorrows we have His sympathy. Temptation, pain, disappointment, weakness, weariness, poverty — He knows them all, for He has felt all. Remember this, Christian, and let it comfort thee. However difficult and painful thy road, it is marked by the footsteps of thy Saviour; and even when thou reachest the dark valley of the shadow of death, and the deep waters of the swelling Jordan, thou wilt find His footprints there. In all places whithersoever we go, He has been our forerunner; each burden we have to carry, has once been laid on the shoulders of Immanuel.
“His way was much rougher and darker than mine Did Christ, my Lord, suffer, and shall I repine?”
Take courage! Royal feet have left a blood-red track upon the road, and consecrated the thorny path for ever.
JANUARY 23 — PM
“We will remember Thy love more than wine.” — Song of Solomon 1:4
Jesus will not let His people forget His love. If all the love they have enjoyed should be forgotten, He will visit them with fresh love. “Do you forget my cross?” says He, “I will cause you to remember it; for at My table I will manifest Myself anew to you. Do you forget at I did for you in the council-chamber of eternity? I will remind you of it, for you shall need a counsellor, and shall find Me ready at your call.” Mothers do not let their children forget them. If the boy has gone to Australia, and does not write home, his mother writes — ”Has John forgotten his mother?” Then there comes back a sweet epistle, which proves that the gentle reminder was not in vain. So is it with Jesus, He says to us, “Remember Me,” and our response is, “We will remember Thy love.” We will remember Thy love and its matchless history. It is ancient as the glory which Thou hadst with the Father before the world was. We remember, O Jesus, Thine eternal love when Thou didst become our Surety, and espouse us as Thy betrothed. We remember the love which suggested the sacrifice of Thyself, the love which, until the fulness of time, mused over that sacrifice, and long for the hour whereof in the volume of the book it was written of Thee, “Lo, I come.” We remember Thy love, O Jesus as it was manifest to us in Thy holy life, from the manger of Bethlehem to the garden of Gethsemane. We track Thee from the cradle to the grave — for every word and deed of Thine was love — and we rejoice in Thy love, which death did not exhaust; Thy love which shone resplendent in Thy resurrection. We remember that burning fire of love which will never let Thee hold Thy peace until Thy chosen ones be all safely housed, until Zion be glorified, and Jerusalem settled on her everlasting foundations of light and love in heaven.
As the video said Charles Emerson became a pastor in the Ozarks. There the Lord used him to help others come to Christ and also provide a place for retired independent Baptist missionaries to have a home. Here is that story. ‘The concept for such a place was born in the heart of a caring pastor named Charles Emerson. Brother Emerson and his family purchased 63 acres of property, built a chapel, established a ministry among the local residents and called this special place: “Missionary Acres”. Due to advancing age and health problems, Brother Emerson graciously donated the property to Baptist Mid-Missions in 1962. Baptist Mid-Missions shared Brother Emerson’s idea to establish a retirement center for independent Baptist Missionaries. The idea was to develop a place where inexpensive housing could be provided for missionary retirees. The ministry still bares the name that brother Emerson gave it so long ago: Missionary Acres.’ https://www.missionaryacres.com/what-is-missionary-acres/
WHO GETS TO DEFINE SIN
“The answer to this question has to do with who your God is. For the true believer, this has to be the Sovereign Creator God. He is the spiritual Father of all who truly believe. If you are not a true believer, your God is man and your father is the devil, the father of lies.
The first problem here is that, in the circle of professing Christians, you are likely to end up with a variety of definitions. That is because, on the right, “externalists” have put things into the Bible text that were not there originally. On the left, the “libertines” simply reject what the Bible does clearly define. The first question is “Who is right?” The answer is that only God is right, and His definitions are in the Bible text. They were placed there by divine inspiration and are true. They are clearly understood only when the reader approaches the text with the one biblical hermeneutic.
THE HAZING OF AMERICA
In our nation, the definition of sin and wrong has been forcibly changed. The most egregious of sin and wickedness is now celebrated by those who control education, government, economy, entertainment, sports and, sadly, the professing church. How did this happen?
In his book, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, the author, Erick Larson, records a terrible truth from the past. It is a clear statement of where our own nation is today.Captain Reginald Hall is described and quoted on page 350 of the book. He visited Germany and Austria in 1934. Ever the intelligence man, he reported his observations about the National Socialist movement to the government. He also described his experience to a friend in America. “All the young are in the net,” he wrote; “anyone who tried to keep out of being a Nazi is hazed till they change their mind; a form of mass cruelty which exists only in such a country.” He added, “It will sometime soon be the duty of HUMAN BEINGS to deal with a mad dog. When that time comes, your people will have to take their share.”
By using federal education (falsely called public education), the minds of generations have blindly accepted “liberal, progressive socialism”. It has created a nation of intellectual pagans who support everything they believe with lies. They are expert at turning truth into lies and lies into truth.
To ensure that everyone follows their “lie pact”, anyone who disagrees has been, is, and will be “hazed”. They are made persona non-grata, ridiculed, punished, and dismissed from the public sector. The socialism described by Hall is the very same destructive, liberal, progressive socialism being forced on this nation. If you want an example, all you have to do is turn on the liberal media for one day.
This process of making sin acceptable may begin with redefining words, but it continues with derogatory name calling. If you have any sense of godliness, you are called homophobic, Islamophobic, etc. Political correctness only adds to the hazing. Change your speech, fall in line, be silent about what you believe – or else. This plan ultimately includes legal and physical force until you submit to the wicked ideas of liberal, progressive socialism.
TELL ME IT ISN’T SO
The church in America should be first in line to speak strongly to the definition of sin that God has given us in His Word. The liberal church has long ago turned its back on the clear statements of God. Sadly, this has given momentum to the paganizing of America. With a low view of scripture, this group has become complicit in the removal of God’s moral standards.
Mainline evangelical church leaders have simply hid in the shadow of liberalism. For whatever motive, they hold their silence; and their pronouncements find them guilty of teaching people to sin. It seems that if a person is very good at communicating he gets a pass on what they are communicating. Anyone who challenges one of these popular gurus is subject to “hazing”.
Without any shame, the Emergent, Emerging, and now Millennial churches are on a dead run to leave God’s standard for holiness in the dust. It is no wonder that these churches ignore or offend basic doctrines. The way one lives always rises from what he believes. The more you degrade the Bible and its pure doctrine, the easier it is to throw off moral and righteous constraints. If anyone dares challenge this moral runaway, they are “hazed” with words like “legalist”. It is no wonder that cults have found a place to hide among these movements.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?
In the end, the biblical church must bear some fault for this. Almost everyone you talk to, it seems, has their head in the sand. They want no part of truth when it brings conflict and rejection. Silence is the watchword when it comes to what is happening in our own world. Remember that “silence is not always golden; sometimes it is just plain yellow”. Leaders tend to hide behind things like “political” and deny that we have responsibility to speak the truth on every subject, even outside the pulpit. It is true that much of the problem is ignorance; leaders often simply don’t know. A careful reading of Acts 20 will help with that problem.
Paul’s words in his two letters to pastor Timothy make all this very clear. He was not afraid to speak the truth, no matter what the consequences. Timothy was instructed not to cut corners, run and hide, or be silent about what God has said. Paul made it clear that people would not listen and would reject the truth, but that did not mean this young pastor should be silent.
It appears that the silence of those who have the truth in this country has cost us deeply. Religious and theological games are very expensive. If we had preached the gospel fearlessly, taught sound doctrine with passion, and clearly defined the holiness of God and His instruction in the Word, things might have been different.
THAT’S NOT A CHURCH
You will have to wait for the February, 2017, Shepherd’s Staff for this, but we don’t expect much from those who aren’t really churches. They really don’t disappoint us, but the real churches are those we look to for truth and sacrificial effort to do battle and define the wickedness of this hour. These pastors will give an account in due time. (Hebrews 13:17)”
whatyareckon 